Tractor-wheel rim.



V. E. THOMAS.

TRACTOR WHEEL RIM.

APPLICATION man sun: 12. m2.

Patented Mar. 5,1918.

lNVENTOFI YET/10mm:

ATTORN EY VERN E. THQMAS, 01h HAZEN, NORTH. DAKOTA.

TRACTOR-WHEEL RIM.

Application filed June 12, 1917.

'l nl lniprorcnwutsin llracior-ll hccl ltinis, irli' n l1 the following13 a specificatum.

'l'liin inrrnticu relates to whee for motor \rhicles. and moreespecially to traction wheels ha ing: a silppleuieiilal rim; and theolilnxl ol the same is lo produce an attachincur, t'lll lllll. oiapplicalion to the rim of an ordinalfr moloivehicle wherl whcrclly itsi'ii'rlun i i 1' 21cc way he rulalgl il and widened and provid d withteeth or spurs to indent the carh and with a ring of sprocket teethalone one side tor engaging}; the linl-zs oi? the dr ving chain.

dill this is accomplished by atlachii'lg a supplemental l'llll lo the\ihrclr and the coustrnrtiou at the l'llll ilsrllj' and ol the details iallachun-mt will he iliounil in lhe following spccil'icalion. referencelining had to the a cconunurri no; d ra win Q1; wherein 2- Figure l is aside elevation of this in.- prored wheel. with a drive chain leadingfrom a llrii'intz' sprocket.

Fin. 2 is a plan Vi w of lhe mnnpletcd tractor wheel.

llig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail througl'i the rim of the motorvehicle wheel and the improved tractor wheel and sprocket.

in the drawings l have employed the letlcr W to designate an ordinarywheel as now in connnon use on motor vehicles such as the Wordautomobile or the like. and the tire is completely ren'iorcd from thewhccl-rin1 as seen in Fig. The hroad purpose of this invention is toconvert such a Wheel into a sonicwlinit larger tractor wheel having aWide toothed face for engaging the earth as is required in tractionmachines, so that the ordinary Ford car can be converted into a tractioncar provided o'l course that the tron t wheels or tires will answer orthat the tires he replaced by broader ones so that the vehicle can runover soft earth-*howorcr this detail need not he amplified herein. ll?the automobile so converted he of the chain-drive type my tractor rimwill have as part of it a ring of teeth constituting a driven sprocketwheel, to he connected by a chain C with the driving sprocket l) of theautomobile, as illiiistrated only in Fig. l; lmt it the driving wheel ofthe automobile is driven through its axle or by some other specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. .75, 191 8.

Serial No. 17 lfl04.

means, this sprocket will not be necessary. in the iijillowing .dscription, however, I hare set forth the dc ails ol? the tractor rim "hlhis sprocket, on the understarnliug the sprocket inayhe omitted ijl."it is not necessary.

Colon-lg now to the specific construction of parts, the tractor rim hasan annular ln'nly 1 which is prcil erahly hollow for sake o l lightness,its radially inner wall 2 being a hand which closely surrounds theperiphery ol' the wheel rim l ft and means are provided to hold itrennn'alily thercim. in the present case such means comprises a seriesof liolts whose heads l are on the outside oi" the wlu-cl and whoseshanks next their heads pass l'lllfullgill a wasl'wr or ring; 5, thenthrough openings or channels 6 tormei'l in the hand and finally tlirmlghclip plates 7 at the inner side ol the wheel and receive nuts 8 as shownin Fig. 3; and when these nuts are set up tight the clip plates aredrawn against one side of the wheel rim l whereas the washer or r1119 5is drawn against the other side of this wheel and against the outer wallot the traction rim. 1 do not wish to he limited, however, to thespccilic form of fastening means, as any wcllltnown method of mounting adcniount- :ilile rini on the wheel may he employed at this point.

The outer side wall ll) oil the tractor rim slands preferably in a planewith the outer edge ot the wheel rim il so that the ring 5 nay overlieliol'h as shown, and at its radially outer edge lhis wall curves so asat 11 lo produce a rather wide tread surface or ti re 1:2 the latterconstituting the radially outer wall or the rim. This tire is bypreference ru'ovideiil with teeth or projections 13 which may hestaggered as seen in Fig. 2 and their obvious purpose is to embed thesoft soil. From the other or inner side edge oi? the outer Wall or tire12, the metal of the rim is carried radially inward in what might hecalled the inner side Wall. l-l which l. prefer to dispose in a planesomewhat inside oil the plane of the inner edge of the Wheel rim W. Atits radially inner edge this all carried inward parallel with the axisof the Wheel in a shoulder 15, and from the shoulder the metal extendsagain radially inward at 16 and unites With the other edge of the band9. The tractor rim may he made of sheet metal rolled into the formdcscrilied or it may be cast or otherwise .liormcd; in fact, it is quitepossible "that it could be made solid and that its externalconfiguration could differ somewhat from set forth. lt is in my opinionessential 5 th e toner band shall fit around the wheel rim il like therim cl? a demountahle tire and that outer Wall or tire shall be quitewide so as to give an an'iplc tread surliace to the tractor rim. Thedistance be 1 l the band and the tire enlarges the s of the wheel andtherefore enlarges If the moor vehicle to which this improved tractortire is applied is such as has a chain drire, the chain 0 n'nty be ledfrom its driving sprocket l) and is necessarily connected With asprocket on the drive Wheel. For this purpose l increase the size of thesproclret so that the enlarged wheel will be driven. somewhat slowerthan the motor Wheel ll" before the application oi the tractor rim.ilrgain referring to Fig. 3, the inner side Wall ll: pre'lterablyreinforced as at 50 to give it greater thickness 25 and strength. llthis rim is made of rolled metal, it is quite possible that one edge orthe strip forming the rim may here overlap the other edge and beattached thereto in .y suitable manner in order to produce 'di'sreinlbrce. The driven sprocket new is plied. has an annular body Ellpierced "'th openings through which pass screws Whose inner ends areengaged with holes in the rein'lorced portion oi the rir one whose he;lll may overlie split or spring Wasl and the body carries a series ofteeth which are so shaped and disposed that hey respectii c: y engagethe links in the sprocket chain 6. lly preference this driven sprocketis disposed at the inner side of the tractor rim, and off course it isin alinement with the drive sprcclts-rt l). The latter is .driven fromermin and is controlled by a clutch and t1 nsm .on. mechanisms, eachoperated by i lever as usual.

i l hen now a tractor rim of this character is applied to the .im oi anordinary motor vehicle wheel, such as V], the Wheel will be increased indiameter and tltierelore in circumference, and the Width of its tread ortire .vill be increased, Whether the teeth 13 are used or not. It themotor vehicle be a chaiirdrive machine, the driven sprocket will beemployetbaial llllliIS will. be added to or t .r from the chain C asnecessary. lt quite possible that the size ol the driving sprocket D maybe reduced, but changes therein may be left to the use and made by himaccording to the power and speed with Which he expects to drive thetraction vehicle when it is finished.

What is claimed as new is:

l. The herein described traction attachficmca of this patent may heobtains-e tor naeaaoi ment for motor vehicles, the same comprising atractor Wheel rim adapted to fit closely around the rim of the drivingWheel, a ring carried thereby and having a series of teeth constitutinga driven. sprocket Wheel adapted to be engaged by the driving sprocketchain, and means for fastening said rim on the vehicle Wheel.

2. The herein described tractor Wheel rim whose radially inner Wall isof a size to fit around the rim of a motor vehicle Wheel and whose bodycomprises inner and outer side Walls projecting radially from said innerWall and diverging at their outer edges, and a radially outer wallconnecting said outer edges and constituting the tread surface of tirerim, teeth on said surface, and lies ening means for connecting theradially inner Walllhereol' with the Wheel rim.

7 3. The herein described tractor Wheel rim whose radially inner Wall isoi a size to lit around the rim of motorv vehicle Wheel and Whose bodycomprises axially i her and outer side Walls projecting ra i from saidinner Wall and dr ers at their enter edges, and a radially outer Wallconnecting said. outer edges and constituting the tread sui ace of therim, teeth on said surface, said radially inner Wall having transversechair eels at intervals, bolts through said channels, clip plates underthe nuts of said bolts engaging the inner side of the Wheel rim, and aasher under the heads or said bolts engaging the outer side oi saidWheel rim and the outer side Wall of the tractor rim.

4:. The herein described tractor Wheel rim for rei'i'lovable attachmentto the rim of a motor vehicle Wheel, the same made of sheet metal rolledto produce a flat band ZtClllIfifid to surround said Wheel rim, an outerside Wall projecting from the outer edgeof said band and curved at itsouter edge away from the plane of said Wheel, an inner side Wallprojecting :froni the inner edge of said band, shouldered and carriedinward away from the plane of said Wheel, and then projectingradiallyout-Ward, a tread connecting the radially, outer edges of said sideWalls, and teeth on said tread.

The herein. described hollow tractor Wheel rim having a radially innerwall adapted to be secured around the periphery of a motor vehicle Wheeland a radially outer wall constituting the tread, its inner side wallbeing shouldered adjacent said radially inner Wall and reinforcedadjacent the shoulder; combined with a driven-sprocket consisting of aring lying against said reinforce and having radial sprocket teeth, andfastening means extending through said ring and into the reinforce.

ln testimony whereof I allix my signature.

VERY E. THOll'll-XS.

five cents each, by addressing the ficmmissioner at latcnls,

Washington, D, W

